Questions visitors frequently ask about Big Bear Solar Observatory.
1. Are there public tours?
Starting June 1 2023, Big Bear Solar Observatory will be offering tours again in a limited capacity. Tours will be every Thursday of the month from 2-3PM. Tours are FREE but donations are welcome. More info can be found here.
2. What do you do at night?
The solar telescopes are specially made for observing the Sun.
On rare occasions we do use them at night on stars to check alignment
and tracking. The earthshine telescope does run at night, of course,
and not in the daytime.
The observing schedule for the earthshine telescope depends on
the phase of the Moon.
3. Is it true that there are only six other solar telescopes
in the world?
No. There are many other solar telescopes. A list of some of the
largest ones can be found here. The new solar telescope (NST, 1.6 m clear aperture)
is the largest aperture solar telescope in the world.
Our GONG telescope is part of a network of six
identical telescopes spaced around the Earth, but there are many other
kinds of solar telescopes.
4. Who operates BBSO, and where does the money come from?
BBSO is operated by the New Jersey Institute of Technology,
the science and engineering university of the State of New Jersey.
The funding for the observatory is through grants from the
National Science Foundation, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the Korean
National Science Foundation and other government and private sources.
5. How many telescopes are there at BBSO?
We have three buildings with telescopes. The big building at
the end of the causeway contains the NST, our 1.6 m solar telescope.
The small dome next to it contains two telecopes on one mount,
our hydrogen-alpha solar flare patrol telescope and our earthshine telescope.
The rectangular building on the shoreline contains our GONG telescope.
6. What's this GONG anyway?
GONG stands for Global Oscillation Network Group. The GONG
is part of the National Solar Observatory based in Tucson,
Arizona. GONG operates six identical telescopes around the world
to study the internal oscillations of the Sun.
7. Does the staff live at the observatory?
We do have a house for the family of one of our staff
members on site, as well as a residence for our observatory director
and some dormitory rooms
for visiting astronomers. The rest of the observatory staff
lives in the surrounding community.
